Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Two Indian-Americans were arrested on 13 May, 2015 on suspicion of H-1B visa fraud. The arrests took place in New Jersey following a federal complaint claiming that they had been hiring foreign workers, mainly from India, without the skills and qualifications usually required for H-1B workers.

32-year-old, Hiral Patel, and 31-year-old, Shikha Mohta, employees of SCM Data Incorporated and MMC Systems Incorporated, face charges of conspiracy to bring in and "harbour aliens" and to pervert the course of justice.

Five years in prison for immigration fraud

The charges brought against the two men, who are both residents of Jersey City, carries a maximum five year prison sentence and a $250,000 fine. The federal complaint lodged against the pair claims that they, along with their co-conspirators, hired foreign workers from India without the required IT experience for the positions to work in the US.

The pair then sponsored the H-1B visas of overseas workers with the intention of having them work for the clients of SCM Data and MMC Systems across the United States. They claimed that the workers would be working full-time in the US for the prevailing wage as required for an H-1B visa.

Having hired workers on H-1B visas for IT jobs, the pair falsified documents sent to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), stating that the foreign workers had full-time jobs with full-time salaries. However, apparently the employees were not paid the required full-time salary. Under the H-1B visa program it is especially important to pay the salary as stated in the original H-1B visa application.

Federal complaint

However, the information submitted was a deliberate misrepresentation of the true situation and was in violation of the requirements of the H-1B visa programme, according to the federal complaint. It's alleged that Mohta and Patel only paid the overseas workers when they were assigned to a third-party client who was contracted to SCM Data or MMC Systems. This was less than the prevailing wage as required under the H-1B visa program.

The federal complaint also alleges that, in some cases, Mohta, Patel and numerous co-conspirators had falsified payroll records to show that the foreign workers they were hiring received the prevailing wage.

An excerpt from the complaint said: "On numerous occasions the conspirators required workers to pay SCM Data or MMC Systems their gross wages in cash. In exchange, SCM Data and MMC Systems would subtract taxes and fees and issue payroll checks to the foreign workers in a smaller amount."

Initial court appearances

Following their arrests, Patel and Mohta made an initial court appearance where prosecutors said: "Your scheme provided you, and others, with a labour pool of inexpensive, skilled foreign workers who could be used on an 'as needed' basis.

It was profitable because it required minimal overheads and SCM Data and MMC Systems could charge significant hourly rates for the foreign workers' services."

Friday, May 22, 2015

According to a new study published by researchers from the University of California, Notre Dame University and the US Department of Treasury, H-1B employees are crowding out other workers and new H-1B hires did not lead to an increase in patent applications.

The study, titled 'The Effects of High-Skilled Immigration on Firms: Evidence from H-1B Visa Lotteries,' says that companies gaining additional H-1B visas 'has an insignificant effect on patenting' and 'H-1B employees crowd out the employment of other workers quite substantially.'

Government data used for H-1B Visa Study

The three economists who wrote the paper, Alexander Gelber [University of California], Kirk Doran [Notre Dame University] and Adam Isen [Office of Tax Analysis at the US Department of Treasury], took a new approach to government data in order to reach their conclusions.

Each year at the beginning of April 85,000 H-1B visas become available. When the combined H-1B visa cap of 85,000 is reached, the US immigration service assigns visas using a computer-generated lottery system.

To get an understanding of what happens at firms hiring H-1B personnel, the authors of the paper analysed data from the H-1B lottery, plus data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which shows overall employment at a particular company.

According to the study, those companies obtaining visas in the lottery don't have a higher employment rate than those firms losing out on the lottery. At most, there are minimal job gains which, according to Alexander Gelber, means firms are employing H-1B workers as opposed to employing somebody else.

Kirk Doran, an economist at Notre Dame University, said: "The study is a solid conclusion that H-1B workers are crowding out other workers."

Way that Data was used for study criticized

However, Giovanni Peri - also of the University of California – was critical of Gelber's, Doran's and Isen's use of the lottery data as a source. In particular, Peri said that the three of them had only viewed data for H-1B holders employed 'late in the season'.

Peri mentioned that for each company winning the lottery, they only received around two H-1B workers from the process. Peri says that this makes it difficult to judge the impact they have on a company.

Kevin Shih, co-author of a paper written with Peri, offered a view on why Gelber, Doran and Isen did not discover a positive impact from H-1B on patenting. Shih suggested that this was because pioneering organisations tended to lodge their H-1B applications 'earlier in the season.'

However, Gelber, Doran and Isen were able to counteract Shih's suggestion, saying that their study had discovered that late applicants were actually 'more prone to patenting.'

In an exchange between Peri, Gelber, Doran and Isen, Peri said: "Your paper consists of nothing but 0s [i.e. findings that the effect size is 0, e.g. 0 gain in employment]! That can't be true!"

Gelber, Doran and Isen said: "We did find some non-zero results! We found a triple-star effect [i.e. very highly significant in statistical language] of reduced payroll! [An indication that the H-1Bs may be hired as cheap labour]."

Responding to this statement, Peri said: "Yes, but only in some cases."

Other workers "crowded out" unknown

Although the study identifies that other workers are being crowded out, the research is unable to identify exactly who the 'other' workers are. It's unknown whether they're permanent residents, US citizens or another category of worker.

The study also examined the wages of H-1B employees. Although researchers did not know the specific wages of H-1B workers, they were able to establish that employing H-1B personnel did increase the average profit, while lowering the overall wage bill at companies hiring H-1B workers.

Put simply, the study indicates that H-1B workers are paid less than other workers, an indication backed up by Kirk Doran who said: "It's more likely than not that H-1B workers receive less pay."

Some praised the study

Commenting on the study, computer science professor at the University of California, Norm Matloff wrote on his blog that: "This study is one of the most careful, insightful works I've seen on either side of the H-1B field."

Professor of planning and policy at Rutgers University said: "The researchers 'have better data than anyone to date', best I can tell."

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Former first lady and prospective Democratic presidential candidate, Hillary Clinton, has called for a 'full and equal' path to citizenship for the 11 million undocumented immigrants in the US.

During a visit to Rancho high school in Las Vegas, Nevada, Clinton not only promised to support President Barack Obama's executive actions to shield millions of undocumented immigrants from deportation, but she vowed to expand on this so enabling more immigrants to stay in the US legally and apply for work visas.

Hillary promises to protect parents of DREAMers

In particular, Clinton wants to extend executive actions to the parents of DREAMers who currently have benefitted from deferred action for childhood arrivals [relief from deportation]. DREAMers are young, undocumented immigrants who came to the US as children or young teenagers.

To qualify DREAMers need to have high school degrees or be currently attending a high school. They are allowed to apply for deferred action and a work permit. Since 2001 none of the various versions of the DREAM Act have been passed. In June 2012 Obama introduced the "Deferred action for Childhood Arrivals" (DACA) which provided two year renewable work permits for "DREAMers".

Obama's wished to take things further and under executive actions, proposed in 2014 and on hold because of a lawsuit over whether it is constitutional, would permit those who had arrived in the US as children, regardless of current age, to apply for relief from deportation, provided that applicants had a high school degree, or were attending a high school.

Clinton's proposed immigration reforms under executive action would also extend to parents of US citizens and permanent residents who have been in the US for five years. However, Obama's administration stopped short of expanding executive actions to parents of DREAMers, whereas Clinton has promised to help them as well.

During a discussion with six, young Latino residents of Nevada at Rancho high school Clinton said: "There are more people like many parents of DREAMers and others with deep ties and contributions to our communities who deserve to stay, and I will fight for them."

With approximately 27 percent of the Nevada population being Hispanic, Clinton is hoping that her visit and pro immigration stance will encourage Latinos to vote for her. The comments made during the discussion group were certainly well received by the six young Latinos present.

Some of the discussion participants at Rancho high school were also unauthorized immigrants, or had parents who are undocumented.

Why does it matter to Clinton to have the Latinos onside?

According to US political commentators, previous election campaigns show that it's much easier for a Democratic candidate to encourage a high Latino vote when promising to push the issue of immigration reform. Commentators say that Clinton will need the Latino vote to win the 2016 US election.

Democrat Hilary Clinton compared to Republicans

Hillary Clinton's stance she says is different to those in the Republican Party; 'we can't wait forever for a path to full and equal citizenship', she said.

Commenting on the Republicans, Clinton said: "Be in no doubt, not a single Republican candidate, announced or potential is clearly and consistently backing a path to citizenship. Whenever Republicans refer to 'legal status', it's code for second-class status."

Long-time advocate of immigrants

In closing the discussion, Clinton was adamant that she had long been a supporter of immigration, but did admit to failing in building a path to citizenship when serving in the US Senate. She ended by saying: "Despite my failings in the US Senate, there's no doubt where I stand on the issue of immigration reform."

Monday, May 18, 2015

Britain's 'huge green spaces' are proof that UK immigration is not too high insists ex-Labour minister, David Lammy. In an interview with BBC breakfast before the General Election, Lammy said: "If you look at our population, it can manage, there are huge green spaces in the country where there aren't immigrants. It's not too high, it's not."

Lammy criticised the Conservatives for pledging to reduce immigration numbers below 100,000 per year and for cutting English language classes which help foreigners integrate into British society.

Managing the immigration system

Lammy said: "There's a need to manage the system when people arrive in the UK. I agree that there should be no immediate access to the welfare state. However, how can you make it a requirement to speak English and then cut English language classes if you want foreigners to integrate?"

Conservative Immigration Policy blown off course

The UK Immigration Minister, James Brokenshire said the Conservative Party's commitment to reducing net immigration figures had been 'blown off course' by EU immigration. Brokenshire stated that many EU immigrants are coming to Britain to take advantage of the welfare system, but his party has plans to curb this practice by restricting access.

Brokenshire said: "We still think net migration does need to come down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands. We have been blown off course in this Parliament as a consequence of EU migration which has doubled.

That's why David Cameron has been very clear on cracking down on things like the welfare side of things so that you only come here to work. Actually, it's Labour that have not got the policies on this. They haven't got controls."

Lammy's Warning

In 2014, Lammy warned the Labour Party that they should not try to counter the political threat posed by the UK Independence Party by adopting a hard line stance on UK immigration themselves.

Lammy said: "I don't think that posturing and positioning each time there's a new immigration poll is right for the Labour Party. We are a pro-immigration party, a pro-European party."

Thursday, May 14, 2015

Barack Obama has announced plans to make doing business in the United States as 'simple and as attractive' as possible by easing the application process for L-1B work visas. The L-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa category which allows international companies to transfer workers with specialised knowledge into the US for up to 5 years, provided they have been employed continuously by the company outside the US for 1 year in the last 3 years. The overseas company will have to show common ownership and control with the US company. There is also the L-1A for executives and managers which has similar requirements and allows entry to the US for up to seven years.

On March 23rd the President told the SelectUSA Investment Summit that 'My administration is going to reform the L-1B visa category, which allows corporations to temporarily move workers from a foreign office to a U.S. office in a faster, simpler way. And this could benefit hundreds of thousands of non-immigrant workers and their employers. That, in turn, will benefit our entire economy and spur additional investment.'

Report shows huge number of L-1B visa denials

Obama's announcement comes on the heels of a damning report by the National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP). Published in March, the study reveals a trend of rising denials for L-1B applicants. Denial rates have rocketed in the past decade; from 6% in 2006, to an unprecedented 35% in 2014. Some groups have been particularly affected, with more than half of Indian applicants - who account for 58% of all applications - being refused a visa. The rise represents a 500% increase, despite there having been no change in regulations.

The report states that 'the current high rate of denials is difficult to understand, particularly since the rate was as low as 7 percent as recent(ly) as...2007'. Strangely, those already working in the US are having their applications turned down most often: 41% of the time, compared with 32% for initial applicants.

Draft L-1 guidance may reduce denial rate

A day after the president's speech, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) released a draft memorandum with new guidance for adjudicators of the L-1B application process.

The aim of the guidance is to streamline adjudications by clarifying how adjudicators assess whether an applicant has suitable specialised knowledge.

L-1B Memorandum criticised by experts

However, the document has attracted criticism from lawyers, consultants and industry experts, with many saying that the guidelines do not go far enough. Sanwar Ali of workpermit.com said it is 'perhaps too early to say' whether the memo will make much difference.

The document also promises greater scrutiny will be directed at employers who already have many 'specialised knowledge' employees working in the US. This makes it unclear whether the new guidelines, which come into effect at the end of August 2015 following a public consultation period, will in reality lead to a reduction in the soaring visa refusal rates.

This is not the first time that the US has pledged to combat L-1B denials. The White House promised in 2012, and again in 2014, to ease the application process, though in those cases no new guidelines were introduced. USCIS's new guidance gives some hope, but only time will tell of its effectiveness.

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

The personal details of world leaders including Cameron, Merkel, Modi, Obama and Putin, were accidentally sent to Asian Cup football tournament organisers. Despite the security breach, the Australian Immigration Department did not deem it necessary to inform world leaders of the incident.

In an exclusive report published by the Guardian newspaper, it was revealed that an employee of Australia's immigration agency sent passport numbers, visa details and other personal information of all the world leaders attending the G20 summit in Brisbane on November 7, 2014, to Asian Cup organisers.

Attendees affected were World Leaders

The details of attendees of the G20 summit including United States President, Barack Obama, the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, the Chinese President, Xi Jinping, the Indian Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, the Indonesian President, Joko Widodo, and the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, were among those whose details were revealed in error.

Breach revealed to Australia Privacy Commissioner

The director of the visa services division of Australia's Department of Immigration and Border Protection contacted the Australian Privacy Commissioner to seek "urgent advice" of the breach.

Correspondence sent to the privacy commissioner's office via email was acquired under Australia's freedom of information laws. The email reveals that the breach was the fault of an employee who mistakenly emailed a member of the local organising committee of the Asian Cup, which took place in January 2015.

Email contained personal information

The email from the immigration officer who provided details of the breach stated the following:

"The personal information which has been breached is the name, date of birth, title, position nationality, passport number, visa grant number and visa subclass held relating to 31 international leaders (i.e. prime ministers, presidents and their equivalents) attending the G20 leaders summit.

The cause of the breach was human error. [Redacted] failed to check that the autofill function in Microsoft Outlook had entered the correct person's details into the email 'To' field. This led to the email being sent to the wrong person.

The matter was brought to my attention directly by [redacted] immediately after receiving an email from [the recipient] informing them that they had sent the email to the wrong person.

The risk remains only to the extent of human error, but there was nothing systemic or institutional about the breach."

The officer who wrote the email also explained that the personal details are 'unlikely to be in the public domain' and stated that the absence of other personal identifiers 'significantly limited' the risk of the breach. The unintended recipient of the email had promptly deleted it and emptied their deleted items folder.

World leaders unaware of security breach

The immigration officer in the email went onto to advise Australian authorities not to reveal to World leaders about the breach in security relating to their personal information. The officer wrote: "Given that the risks of the breach are considered very low and the actions that have been taken to limit the further distribution of the email, I do not consider it necessary to notify the clients of the breach."

The recommendation not to disclose the breach to world leaders may be in breach of privacy laws in some of the countries whose leaders were affected by the breach. Britain, Germany and France all require those affected by data breaches to be notified. However, as this happened in Australia this may not be relevant.

Unclear if Australian immigration notified World leaders of breach

It is unclear if the Australian Immigration Department did subsequently notify the world leaders involved of the breach.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the office of the Australian Immigration Minister, Peter Dutton, was reluctant to answer questions.

Tanya Plibersek, Australia's deputy opposition leader, was quick to capitalise on the blunder. She immediately called for Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, to give an explanation as to why world leaders were not notified of the situation.

She said: "The prime minister and the immigration minister must explain this serious incident and the decision not to inform those affected."

Embarrassment to Australia Immigration

More embarrassing for the Australian government is that revelations of this gaffe come just one week after controversial, mandatory data retention laws were passed.

Greens Senator, Sarah Hanson-Young said: "Only last week the government was calling on the Australian people to trust them with their online data, and now we find out they have disclosed the details of our world leaders. This is another serious gaffe by an incompetent government."

Previous Australia Immigration Data Breach

The latest revelation regarding massive data breach in Australia is actually nothing new. It's immigration department is also the culprit for the country's biggest ever data breach by a government agency; the personal details of nearly 10,000 people in detention – most of whom were asylum seekers – became available in a publicly accessible file on the agency's website.

Monday, May 11, 2015

Going against all the opinion polls and surveys conducted in the run up to the UK 2015 General Election, the Conservatives have surpassed even their own expectations and have won enough seats to secure a majority government.

In a turn of events that few expected, the Conservatives have won 331 seats, leaving Labour trailing behind with 232 and absolutely decimating the Liberal Democrats who have only managed to secure 8. It looks as if current immigration policy will continue which in our experience will cause numerous problems for the immigrant population.

A Bad Day For Labour, The Liberal Democrats and UKIP

Labour have lost a large number of seats to the Scottish National Party (SNP) in Scotland, which has become close to being a one-party state. Labour have also failed to secure enough seats in England to make a Labour-SNP coalition a possibility, which many anticipated would be the outcome of the election. The Liberal Democrats suffered an incredible blow at the polls, losing 45 seats.

The Labour leader Ed Miliband has resigned, and so has both the Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg and the UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

How will the Election Result effect UK Immigration Policies

The Conservatives have stated in their manifesto that they aim to keep net migration down to the tens of thousands and make it more difficult for EU immigrants to claim social or housing benefits.

Friday, May 8, 2015

The question of immigration is a burning issue, especially in the run-up to the general election. Twenty years of rising immigration has meant that 6.5 million adults of working age now live in the UK, who were born abroad. Britain has been referred to as being an "Island of immigrants".

Immigration needed in the UK

Migration plays a hugely positive role in the UK workforce. A study published in November 2014 from University College London concluded that 'European immigrants who arrived in the UK since 2000 have contributed more than £20bn to UK public finances between 2001 and 2011. They have endowed the country with productive human capital that would have cost the UK £6.8bn in spending on education'. But in the fog of political rhetoric, there is often a disconnect between public perception and reality.

The Labour Government's introduction of the points-based immigration system in 2008 comprises of a five Tier points-based system for assessing immigration applications. This is of relevance to non EU/EEA workers. People from within the EU can live and work freely in the UK without having to come under the UK points based system. Migrant workers and students must gain points to qualify under a specific tier visa to enter or remain in, the UK. Tier 2 visas are for 'skilled workers' from outside the EEA with a job offer in the UK. The jobs are highly-skilled, usually at graduate level and must have a minimum salary £20,800 per year. Many occupations under Tier 2 will require much higher salary rates.

UK Tier 2 Visa Scheme for Skilled Workers

There is an annual cap on the number of Tier 2 (General) visas that can be granted. The cap currently stands at 20,700. People earning over £150,000 per year are excluded from the cap. However, the cap has never been reached. Probably because it has become so difficult applying for a Tier 2 visa that many employers do not bother. Employers applying for a Tier 2 visa need both a Tier 2 sponsorship licence and a 'certificate of sponsorship' for each employee they wish to sponsor.

Statistics show that only 1.7% of applications of this type were rejected in 2008. We are certain that the refusal rate is much higher now. Immigration and Security Minister, James Brokenshire says:

"The fact that fewer than two per cent of Tier-2 sponsor licence applications were refused under the old government is ample illustration of the open-door immigration policy and the incompetence of the UK Border Agency in administering it.'

Recently, the media reported of immigration officials cracking down on Tier-2 visa applications after it was discovered that a few employers were offering visas for jobs that either did not exist or were jobs that in reality were not at a high enough level for the Tier 2 visa scheme. The Government said it had tightened up the rules on giving Tier-2 visas by looking at not just the jobs being advertised but the size and background of the business looking to fill the vacancy.

UK Government and Cameron's failure to reach tens of thousands target

The total number of people arriving in the UK in the year to September 2014 was 624,000 - the highest on record. Some 320,000 left the country, giving the net immigration of 298,000, which is the highest since the record level of 320,000 in 2005. As part of his pre-2010 election promises, David Cameron outlined plans to reduce net migration to the UK to less than 100,000 (he actually said tens of thousands). Cameron's pledge has failed spectacularly, with immigration figures almost three times as high as the Tories promised.

Immigration statistics include immigration from the EU and immigration of dependents. For non EU/EEA workers there has been an increase in ten percent in the number of work visas granted.

There has also been a significant decrease in work-related visa extensions and applications for indefinite leave to remain (also known as "permanent residence"):

Monday, May 4, 2015

It is becoming increasingly uncertain whether highly skilled professionals on Tier 2 visas including international experts hired by Universities will be able to stay in the UK on a permanent basis after five years in the UK. The Times Educational Supplement (TES) a top educational resource had the following to say.

An excerpt from a TES report reads: "As far as the Home Office is concerned the immigration status of those on the Tier 2 migrant visa is as precarious as it is temporary. When they come to this country, the government agency says that any private life they have established here should be given little weight, given their precarious immigration status."

Miwa Hirono Scholar on China issues

This is the damning verdict of Miwa Hirono a Japanese national and expert on China who was previously at the University of Nottingham. Due to UK immigration policy, she has been forced to quit her permanent role at the University after giving over six years of her life in service to the university. Despite being an adviser to the British Government she and her family have had to leave the Country.

Dr Hirono's work for University and UK Government results in UK visa refusal

Dr Hirono accepted the prestigious Research Councils UK research fellowship in September 2008 in order to study Chinese peacekeeping operations and humanitarian assistance. The intention was that her fellowship would conclude with the offer of permanent employment with an agreement signed by the university and Dr Hirono to that effect.

Her studies took her overseas to do fieldwork in China and across developing territories in which China has influence including Africa and Southeast Asia. With the university's full backing, plus RCUK [UK government] funding, Hirono spent 270 days outside Britain for research purposes between March 2009 and March 2010 and a further 202 days between March 2010 and March 2011.

Her work as a result of these field trips was published in numerous prestigious journals and scholarly books.

UK Refusal of Indefinite Leave to remain Letter

In July 2014, the scholar was issued with a letter informing her that her application for indefinite leave to remain had been rejected. The letter cited that the refusal was based on her absences from the UK for a period exceeding 180 days on each of the two occasions that she had exited the country.

An excerpt from the letter reads: "You have provided a letter from your employer (the University of Nottingham) dated 11/3/2014 which states that you are required to travel around the world for meetings and conferences as part of your duties as an RCUK fellow.

"The letter also states that the dates you were outside the United Kingdom were all with University approval. However, it is not believed that any of the periods of absence can be considered to have been in any way compelling or compassionate, which would need to be established to enable discretion to be applied."

Home Office wins second Immigration Appeal

Asked to leave the country, Hirono had to drop her research in order to prepare an appeals case.

In a massive show of support, concerned colleagues and professionals – including those from the United Nations, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, thinktanks, the vice-chancellor and other senior colleagues of Hirono's university, top academics in various fields including China studies, and local MP Anna Soubry – sent supporting letters to the tribunal and to the Home Office.

The judge presiding in the first appeal case said: "Dr Hirono is making an immense contribution to the fabric of this country. I consider that her continuing residence in the United Kingdom ultimately benefits the economic wellbeing of the country."

Dr Hirono won the initial appeal on December 11 2014. However the Home Office appealed this ruling and was successful. UK immigration had the following comments to make.

…"the appellant has been fully aware…that their stay is precarious"…

Miwa Hirono and her family have now had to leave the Country. She has accepted a position at Kyoto University in Japan. Dr Hirono had the following comments to make:

"I have my life here, everything is here but I have to give up everything.

"It is idiocy. The Government funded my research and now they are penalising me for hard work and contributing to their policies."

She also had the following to say: "I have one published paper which is uploaded on the UK embassy in Beijing's website.